The Princess's Proposal by Valerie Parv

Author:Valerie Parv
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Unbelievably the riding got worse from there. Adrienne was aware that sometimes Hugh led the way and sometimes she did, but most of the time she had too much to do keeping herself and the horse in one piece, to worry about keeping score.

Gypsy had her worried, too. Adrienne normally loved to ride the responsive mare, but today it was all she could do to keep the horse aimed in the right direction. Was it the difficulty of the ride, or was the mare picking up Adrienne’s own tension? A little of both, she suspected.

The exhilaration of cantering along the old bridle tracks was forgotten in the struggle to make any headway on the treacherous, barely marked path. Above her, 600 feet of steep cliffs glowed platinum in the afternoon light. Below, a ravine fell away for a nerve-testing 1500 feet. She tried not to look down.

The crisp mountain air no longer lifted her spirits as much as it seared her lungs. Gypsy was mountain bred, but she still found the going tough. Adrienne started to understand why her brothers hadn’t wanted her to do this. It wasn’t a trail ride. It was a journey to hell.

The trees opened out onto a narrow belt of snow plain, and she reined Gypsy in, grateful for a chance to rest the laboring horse. If Hugh was behind her, Avatar wouldn’t make it to the summit without a breather, either. If he was that far ahead—and she doubted it—she was already in trouble, so there was little harm in taking the respite.

She looked around for her adversary, but the forest was too dense for her to see, and the thick undergrowth blanketed most sounds.

Unfortunately, the silence and aloneness made it hard to avoid thinking. She ran the back of her hand across her mouth. She had no words for what was going on inside her. It was as if Hugh’s kiss had triggered an internal meltdown, forcing her to question everything she thought she knew up to this point.

She took a long swallow of spring water from her canteen and felt a few droplets trickle down the cleft between her breasts. Refreshing as it felt, it was also a vivid reminder of where Hugh’s lips had traveled.

She must look a sight, she thought, picturing the sweaty tangle of her hair under the borrowed cowboy hat. She’d shed the sunglasses miles before. Who was going to recognize her up here? They had probably left a panda mask of dust and sweat on her face.

Hugh hadn’t seemed to care. He had kissed her like a man with nothing but passion on his mind. Thanks to him, it had been the only thing on hers, she thought. What would it be like to be truly, deeply loved by such a man?

She might be innocent in many ways, but it didn’t take much to imagine herself in his bed, his muscular body covering hers as they explored the real meaning of passion. She sensed that he wouldn’t rest until he’d taken them both to the stars and back.

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